As we begin this New Year, let's hope we do not have to continue to deal with drought problems during 2008. The drought of this past year turned out to be the worst since records have been kept. The problem is, the predictions are that the current weather patterns will continue at least through next fall, and the drought will continue as well.

I hate to start a new year out on a negative note. All of us, including our farmers, have had to face some difficult times in the past. However, we have dealt with them and, in most cases, have become stronger because of our experiences.

We have had an opportunity to learn from this past year. Our farmers have learned more about how to deal with early frosts and freezes. They have learned more about how to select seed varieties that are more tolerant to drought, and they have learned how to maximize their production inputs. They have also learned how to get by without doing some things.

You and I have learned how to save a few gallons of water each day by being a little more conservative. We have learned that our lawn does not need watering as often as we used to think it did. We are learning how to conserve water in our landscapes, in our kitchens, and in our bathrooms.

I have just received the newest issue of the Corn and Soybean Digest magazine. A quick review of the articles in this magazine reveals a few that I am sure you would be interested in learning more about. As I mentioned last week, one of my challenges is to use this column to help you become better educated consumers of agricultural products.

In Robeson County, the average soybean yields are about 30 bushels per acre. Of course, they were a lot less than that this year because of the drought. Many years, some of our better farmers achieved yields above 60 bushels per acre. The top yields in the state are around 100 bushels per acre.

But how high can soybean yields go? What is the highest possible soybean yield a farmer can achieve? Anyone involved in producing agricultural crops will have an opinion about how high these yields might go. Those trained in agronomy can argue the effects of water, soils, fertility, day length, and other factors. The yield potential is debatable.

An article in this magazine shares that Kip Cullers, a farmer from Purdy, Missouri, achieved a certified soybean yield this past year of 154.7 bushels per acre. I personally believe the yield potential for soybeans is much greater than this, but I don't know how high they can go. I do know that many farmers in Robeson County do not even have corn yields this high.

Another article in this magazine discusses Brazil's legislative shift to biodiesel. Beginning this week, Brazil is slated to use 2 percent biodiesel nationwide. The goal will be 5 percent by the year 2013.

Most of us have heard about using soybeans and canola for the manufacture of biodiesel. But in Brazil, a weed that is listed as a noxious weed has shown possibilities of providing far greater amounts of oil than any other plant. In Brazil, Jatropha is kind of like Kudzu here in the United States. This weed will grow just about anywhere and requires far less fertility than other plants. With a little more research, Jatropha may be grown commercially just as an oil source for biodiesel.

I had previously mentioned in this column that in the future we may see our farmers producing special fuel crops instead of food crops. Who knows? This may be the crop they will be producing.

A final article I will mention had to do with corn exports. If you were like me, you would assume that due to the large number of animals that are produced in the United States that use corn as a feed source, and since producing ethanol by using corn has increased drastically, that the United States would not be a major exporter of corn. It would be easy to think that we probably use almost all of the corn that we grow, right here in the United States. This is not correct. The United States is by far the largest exporter of corn in the world. This year, the United States exported almost 60 million metric tons (mmt) of corn as compared to only 48 mmt just four years ago. Today, corn exported from the United States accounted for 65 percent of all the corn exported in the world. In comparison, Argentina exported only 15.8 mmt, Brazil exported only 9.7 mmt, and China exported only 5.3 mmt.

In spite of drought problems in some areas of the United States and flooding problems in other areas, our farmers are doing something right. They know how to produce our food, and they do a good job. If there is anyone in this country we need to be proud of, it's our farmers.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 10/15/08